


Hallownest at War

by Luminite2067



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Gen, Politics, World War I, geo-politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:35:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29318730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminite2067/pseuds/Luminite2067
Summary: It is a normal day in the realm of Hallownest. Bugs go about their activities and enjoy the prosperity endured by the kingdom under the Pale King's rule, all woefully unaware of the tension between the Pale King and the Radiance, which would soon come to a head... Until they are warranted into an uneasy truce, as all of Hallownest is suddenly and seamlessly transported to a strange world which is embroiled in a great and terrible war to end all wars!
Comments: 16
Kudos: 13





	Hallownest at War

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo this is a pretty big contrast to my last work. I was going to make more of... well... just check out my last work and you'll know what I mean, but I'm terrible at writing plots and that didn't pan out, so I just decided screw it, what if Hallownest was in World War 1? (summer 1915 specifically.) History and geopolitics has always been a really interesting topic to me, and I have no clue how this idea didn't come to me faster. You might have noticed there aren't many characters, that's because I'm going to add them as I go. And I'll add archive warnings if they appear. So yea, sorry for taking so long to upload. Enjoy!

It was a day as any other, bugs awoke to the rhythm of their circadian clocks, and went out to perform whatever task they required for the day. Even for the Pale King himself, it was yet another cycle of quenching the complaints of the nobles and the reports of his retainers. Yup, just a normal day, nothing weird at a-

Suddenly one of his royal retainers ran into the throne-room, breathing heavily.

"My lord! Residents of the town of Dirtmouth above say the sky has transformed to a shade of lifeblood-blue!" The retainer spoke.

The King had hoped _something_ interesting would happen, but he did not plan for this.

He was slightly taken aback but nonetheless responded "Perhaps this is the work of those heretics, have any of my subjects been harmed?" 

"None that they could tell my Lord, but that's not all! They say there is a huge glowing ball in the sky that emits great heat, although not to a harmful degree. And that certain individuals have claimed that the wastelands around Hallownest have turned a brilliant green!" His retainer returned.

"Dispatch a group of city guards to see if this is true, I have little time for those with delusion. " The Pale King commanded.

"At once, my Lord."

The Pale King did not believe this for a second, it was simply an illusion conjured by the Radiance or those obscene lifeblood heretics to make his people lose faith in him, surely. He would wait until the guards returned and revealed to him the truth of the matter.

* * *

After a few more hours of slogging through squabbling nobles, the guards returned to the palace.

"Sire, the guards you sent to inspect the situation above have returned."

"Send them in to speak." He ordered the retainers. Not too long after, 6 guards entered the room, half with wings, half without. They skittered up in front of him and quickly kneeled before their king.

"Speak of what you have witnessed above, tell me if the sky's transformation is true."

All of the guards looked at one of the wingless guards, probably their captain, and he rose and stepped forward.

"My King, the rumors are true... The sky above has changed to a shade of blue as the same in lifeblood, and there is a huge orb that emits a beautiful light. It is also considerably warmer up there, and there were also way more bugs clustered into Dirtmouth, probably there to see the spectacle for themselves." The guard captain reported.

"And what about the wastes outside, have they also changed?" The Pale King asked

"Indeed they have, my Lord, they have assumed a vibrant green color, and there is a great brown strip that runs on for miles. But the most frightening thing my Lord is... There seems to be other beings in this world, some have claimed they can see communities of these creatures, although we did not see for ourselves." The guard captain returned.

The Pale King slumped back in his throne, taking in all of what the Guard Captain just said. The captain fell back into line with his squad, and they all stayed silent.

"Thank you for the report captain, you may all return to your posts." The Pale King replied.

As they left he turned to the retainer by his side, "Ready a train of stags, I must see this for myself."

"Of course."

* * *

The King sat himself upon a stag at the center of a stag train at the hidden station. He had a band of 10 kingsmoulds and 10 retainers with him, mostly as a show of force for his small stature, he would have brought the Pure Vessel with him but these rumors were probably just the result of mass hallucination. (And they also wouldn't fit on a stag.) The stags took off down the way, thumping heavily along. And in little time the Pale King had reached Dirtmouth and he and his band disembarked their stags. He walked slowly over to the elevator, expectations not very high, but as the elevator rose he noticed a bright yellow light gleam against the walls, could the rumors be true? The elevator came to a stop and he couldn't believe what he saw outside the window of the station.

It was true, the sky had turned a light blue and in it lay a great yellow orb which put off a blinding light. He stared into the sphere, quickly realizing that it hurt his eyes to do so, so he refrained, and stared into the sky instead.

After a good minute of this, he finally collected himself, he thought about what kind of consequences this would have on his rule. Seeing a giant ball of light in the sky would probably make the bugs of Hallownest think the Radiance had come to take revenge, which he wasn't too skeptical of either. And although the sky was lifeblood-colored, it didn't seem to do anything, but he would have to look into that. And he recalled what the guards had said about the beings outside of the kingdom, so he was doubtful this was the work of the Radiance or the heretics. The Radiance hadn't even shown herself since it happened. She was probably still cooped up at the moth village, planning her _real_ revenge. Either way, he wanted to have a talk with her about what's going on, if she would even agree to meet.

He decided he should seize the moment while the hype of this event was still young, and rally his subjects to his side. He decided he should make a speech to motivate them to stand against whatever had done this.

The Pale King exited the stag station with his kingsmoulds and retainers, and he looked around to see thousands of bugs gathered in and around Dirtmouth, all staring at the sky and whispering to each other, probably about what was going on. He found his way to the town square where there was a stage where he could give speeches, although he basically never gave speeches due to being so self-conscious about his size, he knew he might need it at some point, and so he did. He stood up at the center of the stage, kingsmoulds and retainers positioned around him, and began his speech.

"My loyal subjects!" The King started. He used his powers to amplify his voice so he could be heard over the massive crowd.

This caught the attention of almost every single bug in the valley, and those whose attention he didn't catch quickly realized everyone had stopped talking. Many of them were in awe of seeing their king in the open. He was not as tall or as glorious as they had imagined but they didn't care, he rarely ever came out from his palace so even seeing him was a privilege.

"The world around us as we know it has undergone a radical change, the sky above has shifted to a brilliant blue and in it now lies a great flaming orb! And I'm told the wastes beyond have transformed to a rolling green landscape... Where there exist beings who might try to invade our glorious Hallownest! I do not know if this is the work of the Radiance or those filthy heretics, but I shall get to the bottom of this! And ensure the survival of our great kingdom through anything that would seek to destroy and enslave it!"

The crowd cheered in approval, and the Pale King could tell that something great would develop of this. But first, he had to finish his speech.

Hundreds of miles away, four rulers all receive urgent letters informing them of a strange geographical formation suddenly appearing where the Meuse river once flowed. Little do they know this small kingdom would pose a significant roadblock in the progression of this war, and possibly alter the fate of all of Europe.

**Author's Note:**

> Let's talk location and sizes, most of these sizes I just made up based on how realistic they seem or how convenient they are to the story, and are mostly here to just give a better perspective. Anyway, Hallownest in this timeline is located somewhere between the French city of Sedan and the Belgian city of Namur, in Wallonia right smack dab on the front lines of WW1. King's pass faces the north, and Crystal Peak would face the south, with foothills guarding the Dirtmouth valley from the east and west. Hallownest is around 30 miles wide on all sides, and is around 40 miles deep, 45 with the abyss. The total population of Hallownest is around 120,000, with 3,000 in the Mantis village, 8,000 in the hive, and 1,000 weavers. The average Hallownest bug is probably around 5 feet tall; the knight would be around 3 1/2, the Pale King and Hornet would be around 4 1/2 feet w/o horns, 6 feet w/horns, Hollow would be around 12 feet tall w/o horns, 15 w/horns. And the white lady would be probably 20 without her roots and branches, god only knows how tall she'd be with them. (Seriously how the hell did PK even boink her?) And for comparison the average European height in 1914 was probably around 5 Foot 2 Inches. Sorry for all the estimation, I HATE doing research and it really shouldn't affect the story too much.


End file.
